Canon PowerShot N offers tilting screen, any-way-up photography

The Canon PowerShot N is a new compact camera from the Japanese company that promises to give you a unique perspective on your photos, with a tilting touchscreen and lens control rings.

Although touted as distinct and unlike any other camera out there, at first glance it looks a lot like the Samsung MultiView MV800 camera launched a few years ago, thanks to that tilting 2.8-inch display on the rear.

The lens on the front offers 8x optical zoom (28-464mm in 35mm terms), and image stabilisation. There's a 12.1-megapixel CMOS sensor, backed by the DIGIC 5 image processing engine, giving this camera the HS badge - meaning it should perform reasonably well in low light.

However, it’s the lens rings that sound interesting. While the touch display on the rear will offer controls, you get the option to use the rings around the lens for zoom as well as the shutter release.

Canon says this gives you the flexibility to hold the camera, and which way, and still be able to control it and take the shot you want. It sounds as though handling might prove contentious, but we won't pass judgement until we've seen the camera on the CES showfloor this week.

The camera is also sociable, with the integrated Wi-Fi meaning you can hook up the camera to your smartphone to share images instantly with a single button press. You'll be able to ping shots to Facebook or videos to YouTube while out on the move.

The Canon PowerShot N will be available from early April and will set you back £269.

As much as it might look like Samsung's MV800, there's something intriguing about the Canon PowerShot N and we can't wait to get our hands on it to bring you our first impressions.